Lady&#39;s handbag



June 10, 1941. B. STEMBER LADY'S HANDBAG Filed May 10, 1939 INVENTOR Her-hora .S'Zf'mber- ATTORNEY Patented June 10, 1941 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE LADYS HANDBAG Bernard Stember, East Orange, N. J., assignor to Amity Leather Products 00., West Bend, Wis., a corporation of Wisconsin Application May 10, 1939, Serial No. 272,747

2 Claims.

This invention relates to improvements in ladies hand-bags, and more particularly to hand-bags of the type having inner and outer side walls forming therebetween auxiliary outer compartments or side pockets.

The object of the invention is to provide a.

hand-bag of the type described in which the mouth or opening of the side pockets will be held in closed position when the bag is carried.

The foregoing object is accomplished by securing the straps comprising the handle of the bag to the frame and passing them through cut-outs in the top edge of the outer side walls. The straps pull the outer side Walls toward the inner side walls and frame, closing the opening or mouth of the side pocket.

The novel features, which are considered characteristic of the invention, are set forth with particularity in the'appended claims. The inventiouitself, however, both as to its organization and its method of operation, together with additional objects and advantages there-of, will best be understood from the following description of a specific embodiment when read in conneat-ion with the accompanying drawing, which:

Figure 1 is a view in front elevation of a ladys hand-bag embodying the invention;

Figure 2 is a topview of the hand-bag with the mouth of the side pocket in closed position;

Figure 3 is a top view of the hand-bag with the mouth of the side pockets open;

Figure 4 is a transverse sectional view of the hand-bag, taken on line 44 of Figure 2;

Figure 5 is a transverse sectional View of the hand-bag, taken on line 5-5 of Figure 3; and

Figure 6 is a transverse sectional view of a hand-bag embodying a modification of the invention.

Referring in greater detail to the drawing, the bag generally comprises outer side walls III, which form the outline of the hand-bag, as is illustrated in Figure 1. The lower edges of the outer side walls I0 are secured to a bottom (not shown) extending therebetween. The side edges of the outer walls It], with the exception of a short portion at the top thereof, and the ends of the bottom are joined together by end walls I2. Positioned within the confines of the outer walls is a. bag frame I3 which is formed in the manner generally known in the art and comprises two hinged members.

The top of the frame I3 is positioned below the top edges of the outer side walls. With the exception of portions indicated at I4, which are well-known manner.

left free to permit the legs of the frame I3 to be positioned inwardly of the side edges of the outer walls I0, the top edges of the end walls I2 are secured to the depending legs of the frame in a Secured to the top and legs of the bag frame I3 are the edges of the inner Walls I5 which generally comprise the main or inner pocket. P

The frame I3 is held in closed position by a clasp I6 of the type generally known in the art, and provides the access to the main or inner pocket. It is to be understood that the outer walls, bottom, and end walls may be formed of leather, or other material suitable for use of the article as a hand-bag. Likewise, the inner walls I5 are formed of leather or other material of similar characteristics. The inner surface of the outer walls (0 and the outer surface of the inner walls I5 can be provided with a lining material of silk, or the like, which forms the'receiving surface of 'the auxiliary orside pockets. It may be also advisable to provide stiffeningor backing material for the unexposed surfaces of the various walls.

Constructed as heretofore described, it will be noted that the top edge of the outer walls I0 is not secured to the frame, and may be drawn away therefrom, as is clearly illustrated in Figures 3 and 5, to permit easy access to the auxiliary or side pockets designated at S. It is essential, however, to prevent the top edges of the Side walls I0 from falling away from the frame I3 when the hand-bag is being carried. To prevent this, there is provided on the frame laterally extending staple head studs I'I. Opposite these staple head studs the outer side walls I0 are provided with openings or cut-outs I8 which are adapted to receive thelaterally extending staple head studs I1 when the side walls are moved to position immediately adjacent the frame I3. When in this position, the head of the stud extends beyond the outer surface of the side walls ID. A two-part handle is used comprising two straps Illa and Illb, the ends of strap I9a being secured to the staples laterally extending from one side of the frame, and the ends of straps I91) being secured to the staples extending from the other side of the along the straps l9a and l9b' an amount sufii- The upper edge of the sides l0 may be slid defining in part an inner pocket having an up wardly opening mouth, a pair of closure frame members mounted in the mouth of said pocket and clasp means for maintaining the frame members releasably closed, an outer side wall member externally overlying each side wall member of the inner pocket, means cooperating with the inner and outer side wall members for defining an outer pocket on either side of said inner pocket, said outer pockets each having an upwardly opening mouth in general parallelism with the mouth of said inner pocket, handle means cient to permit convenient entrance to the side' pockets S, as is readily seen from an inspection of Figures 3 and 5. If in this lateral position the handles are grasped by the user to carry the hand-bag, they force the sides In back to the closed position heretofore described and illustrated in Figures 1, 2, and 4.

The same results may be accomplished by the modification of the invention shown in Figure 6. In this modification the straps 33a and 33b of the handle are secured to the inner surface of the outer side walls 30 and pass under staple head studs 32 secured to the frame 3|. The staple head studs 32 are of similar construction to those heretofore described with the exception that they project only far enough away from the frame 32 to permit the straps 33m and 33b to readily slide thereunder and to permit the sides 30 to come as close to the frame 34 as possible. In this modification, cut-outs in the outer side for carrying the bag and for maintaining said outer pockets closed comprising a pair of flexible loop members, each loop member extending slidingly through guide means provided on one side Walls are omitted. Only one end of the hand-bag t wall of the respective outer pockets and having its ends secured to the other side wall member of ,the respective outer pockets whereby the mouth of the inner pocket is free of said loops at all times and may be opened independently 0 said outer pockets.

2. In a handbag, a pair of side wall members defining in part an inner pocket having an upwardly opening mouth, a pair of closure frame members mounted in the mouth of said pocket and clasp means for maintaining the frame members releasably closed, an outer side Wall member externally overlying each side wall member of the inner pocket, means cooperating with the inner and outer side wall members for defining an outer pocket on either side of said inner pocket, said outer pockets each having an upwardly opening mouth in general parallelism with the mouth of said inner pocket, handle means for carrying the bag and for maintaining said outer pockets closed comprising a pair of flexible loop members, each loop member extending slidingly through guide means provided on the outer wall of the respective outer pockets and having 'its ends secured to the inner side Wall of the respective outer pockets whereby the mouth of the inner pocket is free of said loops at all times and may be opened independently of said outer pockets.

BERNARD STEMBER. 

